"That is happiness; to be disolved into something complete and great. When it comes to one, it comes as naturally as sleep." - Willa Cather

There was an error in this gadget

Sunday, 23 September 2012

Friløbet 10k

I can't explain exactly why, but life is so good these days. I feel on top of the world and my family is happy. Certainly these two things go hand in hand. Christian learned to ride his bike this weekend. Natti scored the first goal of her soccer team's season. Ok - ok, Mattias still isn't so good at walking, but he is so gosh darn cute.

1. Eating right, with almost no gluten, no soda, no gum, no meat (except fish) and no dairy. Lots of no's here, so I will say I eat a lot of vegetables, fruits, peanut butter, tofu, eggs and corn totillas (grrr... and chocolate). (but, yes! they finally sell peanut butter in Denmark!!)

2. Taking evey other day completely off from running

3. Bikram yoga. My right hip hurt so badly after my 25 miles on Friday that I could barely walk. I went to
Bikram Yoga in Copenhagen yesterday, and today, I didn't even notice the hip. (I'm actually hoping to get certified in teaching Bikram Yoga so that I can start it in Næstved, but that is an entirely different story)

4. SR sleeping with Mattias every other night. I love my husband for so many reasons, but the fact that we can each get a good night sleep every other night is such a blessing.

So what happened today? I ran Nykredit Friløbet 10k in Copenhagen. With almost 6000 participants, there was plenty of competition. I had been assigned a start number at the very back of the pack, but after asking permission I was allowed to start up with the elites. I love the elite women. They are beautiful. Perfect hair and bodies. Their thighs are so far from rubbing together. They were all wearing club jersies. My thighs were probably touching and I was wearing a t-shirt with a woman serving cheese on a platter. I was too nervous to ask anyone how fast they would run. Short dance warmup (Danish tradition) and we were off.

I was scared shitless of shitting my pants...

We ran along the lakes in Copenhagen. A nice flat route through to HC Andersens Boulevard and into the world famous Tivoli amusement park. This park was the toughest part of the run with many twists, turns and little hills. I also think I counted 5 sets of stairs. Coming out of the park, it was incredibly windy. There were no km markers that I noticed, so I didn't catch my 5k split.

I must have run a pretty even pace since I only passed one woman and wasn't passed by any. Finally I saw balloons marking the 7k and 9k points and I knew I could manage a PR.

We finished up running around the Østerbro Stadium track and I sprinted in for a 40:07 (this is highlighted for mmmonyka who will scroll down to find the time), taking 41 seconds off of my PR from Wednesday. I was happy. This was only a training run. Had I not run 25 miles two days before, I imagine a sub 40 would have been in the cards. But imagining and doing are two different things.

I was 7th/2142 women. This meant getting my name announced on the loud speakers for the top ten women. Thrilling! I also have to note that I was 2nd in the 20-34 age group. This means that 5 of the top six women were older than me! There is much hope.

So am I ever going to run a goal race? Yes, but my goal races are ultras. I am, inspired by Steve Q, Piccola Pinecone and my husband, to concentrate on the basics. If I can get faster at middle distances, speed in marathons and ultras will follow, as long as I continue with my long runs. Or so I've been told.

6 comments:

The "litte guy" is 14 months today! We would probably be worrying if he didn't have any teeth. Doesn't time fly? I weighed him today, too. 21 lbs. I have no idea what normal is at this age, but he looks to be of a reasonable size :).

It seems that SR in getting a good sprints workout teaching Christian how to ride his bike. Maybe you should take over. You know, for extra speed training, that will transfer to speed in marathons and ultras:)

Congrats on a non-crappy PR! In both literal and metaphoric sense. But of course you can still do better. Choose a race without stairs!

Did I get a special mention because you think that I would not believe your time and would check it? I would never do that! I stalk peoples times only before they announce it on their blogs so I do not have to be kept in suspense:)

Sorry, Mmmonkya. Just joking. One time you thanked me for writing it in bold, so you could find it easier. But I know you follow along. And I appreciate it and that's the only reason I thought I could make the joke ;). Thanks for always encouraging me! Just wish my middle distance PRs were as fast as yours!

Hello from Rude Skov

Photo by Stine Sophie Winckel

...

My name is Tracy. I am a physician scientist from the USA, living with my husband and two young boys in Denmark. I work as a post-doc fellow at Næstved Hospital. I have a scientific interest in vision loss, vision loss during exercise, exercise, running during pregnancy, MAF training as well as nutrition and health for athletes. I also have a love for music, physics, statistics, cycling, yoga, cross-country skiing, bla bla bal.

I was a member of Team USA at the IAU World Championships in Ultra Trail Running in 2013 in Wales. I am now training to run with Team Denmark at the IAU World Championships in Annency, France in May 2015.